Tom Riddle and the Hogwarts Legend
by Ben Cassel
Summary: A story of the early life of Tom Riddle and how he grew into the man we all know.
1. The Boy Who Ached

**Tom Riddle and the Hogwarts Legend**

**Chapter 1: The Boy Who Ached**

Tom Marvolo Riddle is a young boy with the misfortune of being an orphan. He has lived his entire life at the London orphanage. For ordinary people, living eleven years in an orphanage would be enough to break their spirit. For ordinary people, not having any family or friends would overwhelm their heart with sadness. Tom, however, was not like other people, neither the authorities that bossed him around nor the peers that teased him each day.

The teasing did not bother him. Being involved with his peers was not on his short list of his desires. What was the point of their friendship? Petty games and immature jokes were not worth his time. Even worse than the kids, were the authorities parading around the halls. Tom did not appreciate the fake sincerity that the orphanage staff emitted. They did not care about him - he understood that.

No, Tom Riddle did not want to be like the others, he wanted to be different. The desire to be different was so strong that he even hated his own name, Tom, for being too common. He did not want to be common, and he vowed upon himself to never let that happen. But until the day he could become the special being of his dreams, his heart continued to ache for something he could not feel or describe.


	2. The Moving Glass

**Chapter 2: The Moving Glass**

Rain was pounding against the bedside window of Tom's room. He never liked the rain as much as the other orphanage kids. They all found rain to be soothing and peaceful. Tom, however, found rain to be the most upsetting thing in his life. Mrs. Cole, the matron of the orphanage, revealed to Tom in private that it rained on the night of Tom's birth – the same night that his mother passed away.

Tom sat up in his bed and glanced around the darkened room. The room was empty. His unfriendly approach led Mrs. Cole to put him in a room of his own. After a minute of adjusting his eyesight, he found what his eyes were searching for – a glass of water sitting across the room on the only available table. His throat was only marginally dry, but the steady sound of falling water increased the discomfort exponentially. In a normal home, Tom would not have to weigh the risks of being caught out of bed against the discomfort of a dry throat. The orphanage punished any kid not sleeping during the night. With each bedroom door required to stay open and third-shift staff prowling the halls in turn, getting caught was a real possibility. Another few minutes passed by and the dryness only seemed to escalate with each drip of a raindrop. Tom grabbed the covers and pulled them off of him. The cool air blew against his skin and sent shivers up his spine. His feet lightly tapped the tile floor as he shifted his weight onto his legs and off of the old, worn-out bed. He winced as the bed let out a noticeable creaking sound. Tom picked up his leg, ready to take a step toward the water, when a glow of light caught his peripheral vision. Without thinking twice, he quickly slid back into the bed and under the re-sewn covers. Tom lied in bed, staring at the ceiling while listening to the echoes of footsteps coming from the hallway. Each step brought fear to his heart. Fear that he would be caught and stuck back into the cellar for a week.

The footsteps began to fade in intensity. Tom let out a sigh of relief at now being in the clear, but stopped once he realized the thirst was still there. Did he dare try a second time to reach the glass? It only took seconds for him to come to a conclusion on the issue. Yes, he was going to get that water without being caught. Tom once again pulled the covers backwards and let his feet dangle over the side of the bed. He was fully prepared to make the trip across the room, but soon found it unnecessary when he glanced down at his feet. Inches to the left of his left foot, sat a glass of water identical to the glass that sat across the room. It had to be identical; after all, a glass can't be in two places at once. With that thought in mind, Tom raised his eyes to where the original glass should be. His eyebrows bunched as he came to the realization that there was no longer a glass on the table. His eyes dropped back down to the floor and the glass of water next to his foot. Did the glass move from the table to the floor? And, if so, how in the world is that possible?

Tom stared at the glass of water, watching light from the Moon bounce off the glass while the water never moved. How odd, thought Tom as he tried to understand why the glass had moved. His theories were cut short, however, as the rain picked up intensity and sent his dry throat to the front of his thoughts. Just go ahead and drink it, Tom thought, reaching his hand out for the glass. Two gulps quickly emptied the glass. Feeling much better, he placed the glass back on the floor and returned to his bed and his covers, hoping for something fun to occur tomorrow.

A sharp ringing pulsated through his ears while his shoulder was being pushed. Mrs. Cole was screaming for Tom to get up.

"Get up! Get up! Get up! It is time for breakfast!" screamed Mrs. Cole.


End file.
